Dize v. Association of Maryland Pilots

McDonald, j.

Maritime law has long recognized the “special hazards and disadvantages to which they who go down to sea in ships are subjected,” especially exposure to “the perils of the sea ... with little opportunity to avoid those dangers or to discover and protect themselves from them.”1 When maritime workers at sea suffer sickness or injury, they are entirely at the mercy of their employer, and it is often said that they are “wards of admiralty.”2 Federal law provides certain rights and protections to compensate for those risks. One such measure is the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 30104, which…